QPR 0-1 Arsenal: It’s better to win ugly than lose pretty.

At this stage of the season, I think our sole focus should be on winning. Whether or not the team performs as a cohesive unit, whether they show what the are truly capable of, is undeinably important, but , as far as I’m concerned, those things are secondary at present.

With that in mind, I’m going to refrain from pulling apart yesterday’s display too much, because however you may feel about the collective and individual efforts of the team, what we needed to accomplished was done. We got the 3 points.

It all started so well. Scoring the quickest goal of he 2012/2013 season after only 20 seconds is a pretty good way to start any game. Once Theo bundled his shot underneath the ‘keeper – a ‘keeper I don’t especially rate, it should be said – I rather foolishly assumed we’d actually be in for a comfortable afternoon in which we bossed the game and put a few more past our opponents.

QPR are one of those teams with plenty of good individuals, but an appalling team mentality. On paper, players like Taarabt, Remy and Park look reasonably threatening, and, should the mood take them, they can cause problems for most teams. In patches, I thought our hosts looked better than a side doomed to fall from England’s top league, and they caused Szczsney a few problems. Our Polish stopper had one of his better games this season – his full-length save from a Remy shot in the final 10 minutes was quite brilliant.

Perhaps they were freed from pressure, or perhaps the mercenaries assembled decided they’d better do something to ensure their grossly inflated contracts are picked up by someone else. Either way, they caused us problems. And more problems than I expected.

But at the end of the day, the scoreline tells us all we need to know; Arsenal won, Arsenal took 3 points. With the season drawing to a close, that is all that matters. It’s not going to be pretty in the next couple of weeks. Chelsea and Spurs have tough run-ins, and still have to play each other, so they will be dropping points one way or the other. Winning yesterday means we sit a a strong position, and if we continue to win 1-0 regardless of performance we should make the top 4.

“Ideally, mathematically you would like to be there without anyone catching you, but it’s interesting for everyone in the Premier League.

“For a long time I said that it would be the team with the most consistency. We had a difficult away game today which we won. Now, let’s win at home.

“The three points were vital for us today and it was a very difficult game,

“I must say, for me, QPR is a good side. If they keep the players together they can come up straight away again.”

He’s absolutely correct. We may not be playing at the highest level, but we are consistently putting points on the board. There’s a period of 10 days until we face Wigan at home and we finish the season with a trip to St James’ Park. Both games are winnable, it’s likely we’ll need to win both games. At this stage I’m confident of our chances, but as all us Arsenal fans know only too well; a great deal can change, and you can nevver truly know what to expect.

I’ll happily take 2 more below-par performances if they are attached to 2 more 1-0 victories.

That’s all for today, folks. The comments below await your thoughts on the game. Who stood out for you? Are you happy to see the team perform poorly if the wins are still coming? Let me know your thoughts.

I shall return with more tomorrow. Thanks for reading, you beautiful bastards.

“I would sign any piece of paper that contains 1:0 for Arsenal in remaining three games. Spuds are playing before us today and if they win, the ball will be in our court. If we win against R‚??s, the ball will be in Chelsea court before they play United at Old Trafford.

Maybe Monreal instead of Gibbs wouldn‚??t be a bad idea as I feel Cazorla plays better when his compatriot is behind him.”